Kokota Grammar

CHAPTER 5: POSSESSION

CHAPTER 5: POSSESSION 5.1 Overview of possession Kokota expresses possessive relations by head-marking the possessum to index the possessor. Typically for an Oceanic language, Kokota has both direct and indirect marking, broadly encoding semantic categories of inalienable and alienable possession. Two forms of indirect marking encode a semantic distinction between general and 'consumed' alienable possession. With both direct and indirect possessor-marked NPs the possessor may be omitted if the context precludes ambiguity. In addition, to this system of possessor-indexing, possession may also be expressed by realizing the possessor as a pseudo-locative prepositional phrase. Finally, within highly restricted parameters a possessor may be expressed without indexing on the possessum and without a prepositional head. 5.2 Direct possessor-indexing Direct possession involves possessor-indexing enclitics attached to the nominal core of the possessum NP. The enclitic status of these forms is discussed in§3.3.l.3. The forms recognize the same person and number categories as the pronominal system described in §3.1.2. TABLE 5.1. DIRECT POSSESSOR-INDEXING ENCLITICS SG PL IExe =gu =mai lINe =da 2 3 =mu =na =mi -di Direct possessor-indexing· encodes the semantic category of inalienable possession. 5.3 Indirect possessor-indexing Indirect possession involves a possessor-indexing host that is syntactically the head of the NP in which it occurs (see §S.9.2). Two possessor-indexing hosts occur: ge-, marking possession of anything consumed by mouth (food, drink, tobacco, etc.); and no-, encoding a general category including all indirectly possessed items other than those qualifying for the consumed category. Indirect possessor suffixes recognize the same person and number categories as the direct possessive enclitics, and are formally identical except for the second person singular form. CHAPTER 5 TABLE 5.2. INDIRECT GENERAL POSSESSOR-INDEXING SG PL lExe no-gu no-mai lINe no-da 2 no-u no-mi 3 no-na no-di TABLE 5.3. INDIRECT 'CONSUMED' POSSESSOR-INDEXING SG PL lExe ge-gu ge-mai lINe ge-da 2 ge-u ge-mi 5.4 The semantics of Kokota direct possession 5.4.1 Inalienably possessed items 3 ge-na ge-di A number of types of items are typically treated as being in an inalienably possessed relationship with their possessor. Unlike in many Oceanic languages, almost all inalienably possessed nouns may be realized in isolation, without possessor-indexing, the exceptions being the contextualizer and associative nouns discussed in §4.5 and §4.6. Possessive relationships typically treated as inalienable include certain kin relationships; part-whole relationships (including body parts, bodily matter, bodily states, and inanimate part-whole relationships); the impression of parts; non-physical parts; divisions of time; intrinsic characteristics; possession by a location (including local nouns and location names); contextual and associative relationships; and the possession of events. In addition, a class of adjectives expressing gender, existential status, and status as new or first, are treated as being in an inalienable relationship with the noun they modify (see §3.2.3.2). 5.4.1.1 Inalienable kin In Kokota some kin terms are treated as inalienably possessed while others are treated as alienable. The distinction is based primarily on age: kin who are younger than the possessor are inalienably possessed. Apart from members of certain culturally highly salient relationships, older kin are alienably possessed. The younger kin category includes tu- 'child' and tamo- 'younger sibling, grandchild': (5.1) a. ara n-a fakae=ni tamo=mu=na ago 142 RL-IExes see=3SGO younger.sibling=2SGP=thatN youSG 'I saw your younger brother.' b. tu=mai ana gai child=IEXCP thatN weEXC 'that child of ours' POSSESSION The category ofhighly salient relationships consists of spouses, a tabu reciprocal in-law relationship between parent-in-law and son-in-law or daughter-in-law, and the relationship between a man and his sister's sons. This latter relationship is the primary relationship of authority and discipline an individual has with a member of a previous generation. These relationship categories are treated as inalienably possessed regardless of age. They include: (5.2) a. nafe 'spouse' b. nanho 'parent-in-Iaw/child's spouse c. mageha 'maternal uncle' d. glegu 'sororal nephew' While nafe 'spouse' is inalienably possessed, nakrupe 'wife' may be inalienably or alienably possessed. There is no specific term for husband. The term kue 'grandfather' may also be inalienably or alienably possessed. 5.4.1.2 Physical part-whole...